mouse guard totally rocks.

i have always liked reading comic books, graphic novels, comic strips at iba pang sequence art format.

noong bata pa ako, paborito kong basahin ang mga adventures ni combatron (naaalala n'yo ba s'ya?) sa funny komiks. pagdating ng high school, na-introduce ako sa marvel, dc at image comics (medyo late bloomer ako eh). tapos eventually dahil sa kakahanap ko ng iba pang mababasa, natuklasan ko ang iba pang mga sikat na graphic novels tulad ng hellblazer, sandman, mga gawa ni arnold arre at marami pang iba.

recently, after mabasa ang isang interview kay david petersen (wala akong ideya kung sino s'ya before ko mabasa ang interview na iyon) sa newsarama. ako ay naintriga tungkol sa comic book na ginuhit at isinulat ni petersen, ang ganda kasi ng art at yung main characters n'ya ay mga daga (yes, mga daga. mga tropa ni mr. michael, mickey, at ben). nabasa ko sa interview na nanalo ng eisner award ang comic book series na iyon at naisip ko na i have to check it out.

and so i did, and i quickly became a fan.

Mouse Guard is fantasy adventure about a group of soldier mice that help defend the mouse territories from enemies and predators, act as bodyguards to travelers and merchants, and serve as special emissaries to different towns. they are like the jedi, only in a medieval setting and they are anthropomorphic mice.

at first glance, parang pambata ang dating ng story. but as one reads on, the story becomes deeper and serious. plots of treachery, death and civil war are within the pages. and it's really great how our little heroes are very much fleshed out characters even only at 6 issues of the (first) series. you can actually care about how the characters will end up in the story. the dialouge between the characters are well scripted and often funny. there are also a lot of mice-philosophy being thrown around in the story to give us a background of their society and beliefs.

and the art. wow! yung autumn palette na gamit ni petersen eh ang sarap tignan. ganda nga mga landscapes at ang mga characters nya ay well-detailed. even with their little faces you could easily sense the emotion being shown by the characters. hindi maiwasan yung "cute" factor kapag tinitignan mo yung mga characters sa book na ito, pero i guess kasama iyon sa appeal ng story. and who would not root for diminutive heroes who defies odds so much bigger than them, literally and figuratively, right?

if you are a comic book fan or love action-adventure or really like cute, sword-wielding mice, then i really suggest giving this book a chance. it's a really great read, even for children! (although the site suggests that it should be read by at least 10 year olds.)

note:
sa aking pagre-research, merow daw lalabas soon na table-top RPG based the settings ng Mouse Guard. at sobrang excited ako doon! sobrang mahilig din kse ako sa mga table-top RPG (tulad ng dungeons and dragons, warhammer, etc). at meron din daw lalabas na 3D animated movie! saya!

here is a sample of the art that can be seen in the book (this is actually a promotional art for the upcoming mouse guard RPG):